Masturbation is one of the most common sexual behaviors across all age groups. Large nationally representative surveys consistently find that a majority of both men and women report masturbating at some point in their lives, with rates varying by gender, age, and relationship status.
Overall Prevalence by Gender
Men report higher rates of masturbation than women across virtually every survey and age group, though the gap has narrowed over time as cultural stigma has lessened. In U.S. nationally representative data, the gender difference shows up not just in whether people masturbate at all, but in how often. Among those who do masturbate, men tend to report doing so more frequently than women.
The gap is visible even in adolescence. A study published in JAMA Pediatrics found that among teens aged 14 to 17, 73.8% of males and 48.2% of females reported having masturbated at least once. Within the previous year specifically, 68.6% of males and 42.6% of females had masturbated. So even in the teenage years, roughly half to three-quarters of young people have experience with it.
How Often People Masturbate
There is no “normal” frequency. People masturbate anywhere from never to multiple times a day, and the range is wide enough that almost any pattern falls within what surveys capture. Among adolescent males aged 14 to 17, about 29% reported masturbating two or three times per week, and another 20% reported four or more times per week. Among adolescent females in the same age range, about 16% reported two or three times per week and roughly 7% reported four or more times per week.
Frequency tends to shift across different life stages and circumstances. People in romantic relationships masturbate somewhat less often than single individuals. A nationally representative U.S. survey found that being in a current romantic relationship was associated with about a 22% lower frequency of masturbation over the past year compared to being single. That said, being in a relationship doesn’t eliminate solo sexual behavior for most people. It just reduces it modestly.
Why Some People Don’t Masturbate
Among those who reported not masturbating in the past year, the most common reasons were lack of interest, being in a committed relationship, conflict with personal morals or values, and religious beliefs. Interestingly, men were more likely than women to cite being in a committed relationship as their reason for not masturbating (20.2% of men versus 12.6% of women). This suggests that for some men, partnered sex serves as a more direct substitute, while women who abstain are more likely to point to low interest or other personal factors.
What Happens in the Body
Masturbation triggers many of the same hormonal responses as partnered sex. During arousal and orgasm, the body releases endorphins (natural painkillers), dopamine (the brain’s reward chemical), and oxytocin (associated with bonding and relaxation). After orgasm, prolactin levels rise while dopamine and oxytocin drop. That post-orgasm prolactin spike is largely responsible for the feeling of relaxation and sleepiness that follows.
The stress-reduction effect is real, not just subjective. Higher ejaculation frequency is associated with reduced psychological tension and lower activation of the body’s fight-or-flight system. This may partly explain why many people report masturbating specifically to unwind or fall asleep.
Potential Health Benefits
The most studied health benefit relates to prostate cancer risk in men. There is considerable evidence that frequent ejaculation, whether through masturbation or partnered sex, reduces prostate cancer risk. The mechanism appears to involve multiple pathways: frequent ejaculation suppresses the sympathetic nervous system, slows the division of prostate cells, and may prevent the buildup of certain crystalloid structures in the prostate that are linked to tumor development. The relationship is dose-dependent, meaning more frequent ejaculation is associated with lower risk, as long as it doesn’t involve risky sexual behavior that introduces infection.
For both men and women, the hormonal cascade of orgasm offers short-term benefits for pain relief, stress, and relaxation. These effects are modest but consistent across studies.
When Frequency Becomes a Concern
There is no threshold number of times per week or month that qualifies as “too much.” The clinical line is drawn not by frequency but by consequences. Compulsive sexual behavior disorder, recognized in the International Classification of Diseases, is defined by a persistent failure to control sexual urges where the behavior leads to neglecting health or responsibilities, continues despite negative consequences, persists even when it no longer feels satisfying, and causes significant distress or impairment in daily life.
One important distinction: feeling guilty about masturbation because of moral or religious beliefs does not, on its own, qualify as a disorder. The diagnostic criteria specifically note that “distress that is entirely related to moral judgments and disapproval about sexual impulses, urges, or behaviors is not sufficient.” The concern is functional impairment, not the behavior itself. If masturbation isn’t interfering with your relationships, work, health, or daily functioning, the frequency is not a clinical issue regardless of what that number is.